One of the midwives on public television is gone. Instead of rolling my eyes at writers’ poor choice of plot development, I’d like to hear from the community what other accessible television and video represents midwives.

NYC’s midwife-friendly St. Vincent’s Hospital is now closed, leaving women planning births both in and out of the hospital in the cold. What can New Yorkers do to help, and what does this mean for the rest of us?

Doctors in North Carolina performed a cesarean section on a woman who was not pregnant. The disciplinary action? A public “letter of concern.” A midwife would have had her license revoked. What’s wrong with this picture?

As an addendum to yesterday’s a broad-brush overview of the implications for women of the health reform, here is an overview of how the bill addresses midwifery provided by certified nurse-midwives and expands the conditions under which nurse-midwives may provide broader health care services.

Midwives in California are fighting for their right to be reinstated at a hospital where administrators have so far provided no proof for their abrupt dismissal, saying only it was for “patient safety.”

More and more women are being refused the right to give birth on their own terms as more and more hospitals ban women from VBACs. Choice means that a woman must have the freedom and support to compare the risks of VBAC and the risks of cesarean surgery.

Choices In Birth means something immeasurable to birth. It means birth options are here, now, in her town, in your town, in any town. It means that birth options are available to this woman, to that woman, to any woman. Choice rebirthed and the world made bigger because of more birth options for more women.

Despite the financial resources commanded by hospital-based birth
services, many experts, economists, and advocates are alarmed at the state of U.S. maternity care, which is driven by high rates of unproven medical interventions.